Project Complete.

Made this bag with Tracy and Tia over three different classes. A talented lady, and a very patient lady in our church taught us how to make this bag. I never would've been able to make it on my own, that is for sure.

 I plan to use it as a travel on bag for our trip to Hawaii and also for NS this summer.

 I love chevron anything lately. I found a pattern on line to make a cosmetic bag and thought I would make one to match. This I made all by myself. Don't look to close at it.

The inside is lined with protective plastic that wipes clean if anything spills.

Hawaii Trial Run!

Pete and Ken venturing into the wild.

Ken's having a fall.

Pretty deep even with snowshoes.

Nothing like a Pina Colada.

Love this picture, and the view, and I especially love the model!

Sisters! Love this girl!

Yup she's gonna kill me for this one!

It was so beautiful snowshoeeing in the woods. We made our own trail and explored for 2 1/2 hours.

Good thing we didn't get lost, we only had 3 beers and pina colada and mini eggs to survive.

My favorite picture. Remember we were at the river earlier and then we climbed up to this cliff edge overlooking the river. What a view!

 

Conclusion:

 

We went to the cabin for a trial night and left our two nieces home with all 5 kids. It was a bit of a practice run for our Hawaii trip in 5 weeks time. They survived, we survived and I think we can all handle it. In just 24 hours I had such a great time. Stayed up late, played games, snacked, slept in till 8:30am. I know, I know it was awesome! Went for a walk, had a soak in the tub, big breakfast, snowshoeeing, steak dinner. This girl can relax when I have the opportunity. Look out Hawaii!

January busy-ness

JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS

• brought in the New Year at the cabin with Mom and Dad Leffers
• Hosted a Staff Social at our house
• I started assisting with storytime at Bible Study. Our church has over 80 kids under the age of five. Our storytime consists of 3-5 year olds and totals 25+ kiddos. Very busy!
• I started a Hanan worshop on Monday nights for parents with kids who are speech delayed. It's from 6:30-9:30. I'm really enjoying it and learning lots. The things I have learned so far, Isaac is responding well to. It is also really nice to connect with other parents who are struggling to communicate with their child.
• Luke started having one on one speech sessions every Friday morning with Mrs. Webber.
• Had some sewing dates with friends. Stay tuned to see the finished products.
• made my first ever turkey which has fed us numerous meals:turkey pot pies and turkey burgers
• Sam and Luke saw the Ears, Nose, Throat Specialist and are both scheduled to have their tongue ties snipped in March.
• We started taking Isaac into church.
• Isaac had one on one sessions with my course instructor Jo and also with Cindy - behavioural specialist.

January Recap

 Emma and Isaac love playing together as long as Emma plays with the toys Isaac selects for her.

Not much girly stuff in this house yet.

 Andrew and his buddy Noah dressed up for twin day at school. Andrew on the left.

 Emma is a very flexible little girl. This may be a cause for concern. We are waiting to be scheduled to see a specialist.

Sam and his cousin Andrea were twins on twin day.

Isaac is always eager to lend a hand when I'm baking especially if he gets to lick the beaters.

Luke grumpy but fighting hard not to smile.

Luke helping bake cinnamon buns.

Out for a walk.

My five kiddos.

Little Miss Emma.

Before her 2nd haircut.

 

 After! So cute!

I found a hippo game at the thrift store. Isaac kept stealing the marbles. Stinker!



2013 at the Hill!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures pretty much sum up our holiday at the cabin. It was such a treat for me to take part in the skiing. Usually I am pregnant or nursing or taking care of the little ones. We headed to the cabin New Year's Eve after church and stayed up late with Ken's parents. Day one of skiing consisted of Sam taking a lesson while Andrew and I stayed on the green chair. The hill was a little boring for mom but it was nice to have a break for the day and spend time with Andrew and Sam. Day 2 Mom offered to watch Luke, Isaac and Emma so Ken, Andrew, Sam and I could ski the big hill. What a treat. So beautiful, weather was nice. Skied with Grandpa, Auntie  Den, Curtis, and Kelsey. I was super nervous watching Sam try to tackle the big hills but thankfully Ken is very patient and is a great teacher. By the end of the day we were all really enjoying ourselves. As per usual we had some sick people throughout our holiday, played some games, went for walks and ate lots of yummy food.

Little Miss Emma! 9 Months old

She loves her mama, especially when she's sick, which is why I carried her around like this for about 15 minutes one day. Every time we put her down she cried and it was driving us crazy. 15 minutes was all I could last. She is getting heavy already.

She loves her Grandma and cuddles.

She loves being outside and getting fresh air.

She also loves cuddles with Grandpa!

She loves playing with my container bin.

She loves trying new things like standing against the couch. Her brothers prop her up there and she holds on proud as can be.

She loves watching her brothers and their friends play the Wii. Isaac loves watching her.

Little miss piggy tails. She sits still as long as I give her something interesting to play with.

She loves her Daddy. I think he's a bit enthralled with her too!

 

She loves watching her brothers playing in the back yard.

Emma at 9 months:

• weighs 20 pounds
• has only 1 tooth
• loves her pink blankie that Nannie gave her. She only got attached to it a few months ago.
• has already been to a Ears Nose Throat Specialist about her tongue tie and is scheduled to see her again in Feb.
• Just had a doctors appointment yesterday regarding her hips. Her joints seem to be really loose and she is always doing the splits. So now she is also scheduled to see a specialist regarding that.
• waves to people, not all the time but often
• wears size 12-18 month clothing
• has huge thighs just like all the boys did
• loves her food. She already eats cut up bread with PB and jam, yogurt, baby cookies, cheerios, oatmeal, bananas, ice cream. That's pretty good considering she only has 1 tooth.
• is now weaned from nursing. Finished around New Year's.
• has two naps a day. One usually 2 hours or more and 1 that lasts about 45 minutes
• Sleeps through the night. 7:30 till 7
• crawls everywhere and is trying to pull herself up against coffee tables, laundry baskets, stools etc.
• Has a bit of a inverted bob haircut. It wasn't planned this way but her hair fell out at the back and not at the sides and it just ended up looking like an inverted bob cut. So trendy.
• doesn't like the exersaucer anymore so it's put away
• loves her brothers, each of them, even though Luke doesn't pay much attention to her.
• she has lots of smiles for everyone and gets lots of attention everywhere we go
• thankfully has tons of cute clothes that were passed on from her auntie Trixie. This has saved us tons of money. I haven't had to buy her much at all, although once and awhile I have to pick something up just because I never shopped in the girl section before.
• she is loved so much and fits in perfectly.
• she has been called a "spitfire" numerous times by her Auntie Tracy and is a real go-getter.